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Topic: Motogp (Read 6627 times)

During the Americas Cup (which New Zealand won BTW), there was only live subscription broadcast in NZ. The event was held in the Bahamas and I found that it was being live streamed in the Bermudas by the local TV Station. When I tried to connect from NZ, I was barred from access. The Pay for view people had that well tied up.

However, I did find that if I subscribed to a Virtual Private Network subscriber for a month, and set my location as Bermuda, I was able to watch the live stream. Brilliant. Not HD over the internet, but good enough to follow the action until the delayed broadcast coverage was available.

We should be able to see the results vary soon. 9:44 here in California as I type this. The grid positions show that it could be "anybody's" race, and with so many so close to the championship lead we know that anything can happen. Still, the usual suspects are there near the top. This is interesting.

Well, another one in the books. The wet start caused a guessing game, will it stay wet, get wetter or dry. It dried out and Honda made the best guess. Marquez won by 20 seconds over Pedrosa, Vinales and Rossi. The only drama was whether Rossi could get Crutchlow for fourth and he did on the last lap.

The race season is half over now, and though it appears that Marc Marquez will likely take the crown again, it is still wide open for the top five. Things have a way of turning out in ways we don't expect, sometimes. The fortunes can change if the leader crashes out of a race and another contender takes the win. 25 points for a win, 0 for crashing out. The thing is that ALL the riders have a tendency to push the limits and risk crashing.

I am glad to see KTM and Aprillia making progress so quickly. KTM generally doesn't fool around when it comes to competition, so I think they are going for as much development as they can muster this season in an attempt to go for the championship in the next season or two. All the bikes seem to be fairly close in ability compared to a year or two ago.

Marquez has the pole, and it looks like every team has made progress in their respective issues. The race should be close if you can believe all the statistics and reports of all the developments in set up and aerodynamics, but we all know that you just never know what will happen on Sunday when the race starts. I am guessing that Marquez will win again unless he crashes, but we will wait and see what really happens on Sunday. Both Ducati and Yamaha are very fast, and will give Honda stiff competition.

Andrea Dovizioso is Ducati's best chance at a championship now, but as well as he is doing I think he has a steep mountain to climb to win the championship this year. No other Ducati is close enough this season. Jorge Lorenzo is progressing well but not fast enough for this season, maybe next year. Still, there are more races before the season is complete, and anything can happen.

I think the championship is Marquez to lose. The same finish order for the next three races would still see him with the points lead. Honda seem to have the electronics figured out. They have had both men on the podium the last three races. There will still be some good racing left.

Big changes at Silverstone. Dovizioso won again and Marquez bike blew up. Rossi led for 17 laps but Dovizioso made a clean pass then Vinales got by. It was a good race. Dovizioso is leading by 9 over Marquez.

Wet race at San Marino but it wasn't bad. Marquez won on the last lap from Petrucci. Dovizioso was third and Vinales. Marquez and Dovizioso are tied on points with Vinales 16 back. Rossi did not race as he broke his leg in a dirt bike crash and he is 42 back in fourth, pretty much out of the championship.

I think Lorenzo is a very complicated individual, complete with psychological strengths and weaknesses, but in the racing business his strengths need to dominate and his weaknesses need to be minimized. He is being paid a significant salary to win, but so far he is only an 'also ran', though he IS getting stronger with the Ducati. He is on the wrong bike for his style of riding, should have stayed with the Yamaha team, but he didn't. I think Lorenzo could do well on the Suzuki but that is not at all likely to happen. Just maybe he will get a grip on the Ducati and begin winning again.

Well, another race is in the books, and another four to go to complete this season. Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa finished "0ne two" for the factory Honda team, and Jorge Lorenzo brought his factory Ducati across the line for third place on the podium. Valentino Rossi rode a brave race to finish fifth in spite of having just broken his leg less than a couple weeks ago.

Lorenzo seems to be adapting to the Ducati pretty well. It will be interesting to see how he does with his new found ability.

The series is still close enough to keep it interesting to see what actually happens as it rolls down to the end. As Nicky Hayden is famous for saying,"they line up on Sunday because you never know what will happen".

Things are shaping up in Japan, and we will know in about 12 hours how it all plays out. It's been raining off and on there, so tyre choice will be crucial. Marquez has had good luck in that area, usually selecting harder tyres than many of his competitors. If the track is anywhere near dry I think he will dominate, but we will find out in about 12 hours when Sunday rolls around. Anything can happen.